He was born Anton Viktorovich Yelchin on March 11, 1989, in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, Soviet Union. His father, Viktor Yelchin, and his mother, Irina, were a successful pair of professional figure-skaters in Leningrad, and his grandfather was also a professional sportsman, a soccer player. Yelchin was only a 6-month-old baby when he emigrated to the United States, where his parents eventually developed coaching careers.